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    Home/Browse/1940s Movies/1940s Western Movies

    1940s Western Movies

    The 40 most popular 1940s western movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.

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    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
    TMDB4.0

    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

    1948 · 2h 6m

    country: United States

    Two jobless Americans convince a prospector to travel to the mountains of Mexico with them in search of gold. But the hostile wilderness, local bandits, and greed all get in the way of their journey.

    3 Godfathers
    TMDB3.4

    3 Godfathers

    1948 · 1h 42m

    country: United States

    Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.

    Red River
    TMDB3.7

    Red River

    1948 · 2h 13m

    country: United States

    Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

    My Darling Clementine
    TMDB3.7

    My Darling Clementine

    1946 · 1h 37m

    country: United States

    Three brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find one of their brothers dead and their cattle stolen. They decide to take revenge on the culprits.

    Fort Apache
    TMDB3.5

    Fort Apache

    1948 · 2h 8m

    country: United States

    Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

    The Ox-Bow Incident
    TMDB3.9

    The Ox-Bow Incident

    1943 · 1h 16m

    country: United States

    A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

    Tall in the Saddle
    TMDB3.3

    Tall in the Saddle

    1944 · 1h 27m

    country: United States

    When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

    Duel in the Sun
    TMDB3.2

    Duel in the Sun

    1946 · 2h 24m

    country: United States

    Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between her sons, one good and the other bad.

    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
    TMDB3.5

    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

    1949 · 1h 44m

    country: United States

    On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.

    They Died with Their Boots On
    TMDB3.4

    They Died with Their Boots On

    1941 · 2h 20m

    country: United States

    The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.

    Western Union
    TMDB3.0

    Western Union

    1941 · 1h 35m

    country: United States

    When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 2000.

    Yellow Sky
    TMDB3.5

    Yellow Sky

    1948 · 1h 38m

    country: United States

    In 1867, a gang robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws encounter a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman and her grandfather.

    Angel and the Badman
    TMDB3.2

    Angel and the Badman

    1947 · 1h 40m

    country: United States

    Notorious shootist and womanizer Quirt Evans' horse collapses as he passes a Quaker family's home. Quirt has been wounded, and the kindly family takes him in to nurse him back to health against the advice of others. The handsome Evans quickly attracts the affections of their beautiful daughter, Penelope. He develops an affection for the family and their faith, but his troubled past follows him.

    Dark Command
    TMDB3.2

    Dark Command

    1940 · 1h 34m

    country: United States

    When transplanted Texan Bob Seton arrives in Lawrence, Kansas he finds much to like about the place, especially Mary McCloud, daughter of the local banker. Politics is in the air however. It's just prior to the civil war and there is already a sharp division in the Territory as to whether it will remain slave-free. When he gets the opportunity to run for marshal, Seton finds himself running against the respected local schoolteacher, William Cantrell. Not is what it seems however. While acting as the upstanding citizen in public, Cantrell is dangerously ambitious and is prepared to do anything to make his mark, and his fortune, on the Territory. When he loses the race for marshal, he forms a group of raiders who run guns into the territory and rob and terrorize settlers throughout the territory. Eventually donning Confederate uniforms, it is left to Seton and the good citizens of Lawrence to face Cantrell and his raiders in one final clash.

    The Shepherd of the Hills
    TMDB3.3

    The Shepherd of the Hills

    1941 · 1h 38m

    country: United States

    Young Matt Matthews, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die. His obsession contributes to the hatred rampant in the mountains. However, the arrival of a stranger, Daniel Howitt, begins to positively affect the mountain people, who learn to shed their hatred under his gentle influence.

    West of the Pecos
    TMDB2.3

    West of the Pecos

    1945 · 1h 6m

    country: United States

    Heading west for his health, Colonel Lambeth takes his daughter Rill along. Lost on the desert they are saved by Pecos and Chito. The Colonel hires the two and the Lambeths soon find themselves mixed up in Pecos' trouble. Pecos has killed Sawtelle's brother and Sawtelle as head of the vigilantes is after him.

    The Return of Frank James
    TMDB3.2

    The Return of Frank James

    1940 · 1h 32m

    country: United States

    Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords.

    The Paleface
    TMDB3.0

    The Paleface

    1948 · 1h 31m

    country: United States

    Bob Hope stars in this laugh-packed wild west spoof co-starring Jane Russell as a sexy Calamity Jane, Hope is a meek frontier dentist, "Painless" Peter Potter, who finds himself gunslinging alongside the fearless Calamity as she fights off outlaws and Indians.

    Blood on the Moon
    TMDB3.1

    Blood on the Moon

    1948 · 1h 28m

    country: United States

    Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers Riling's plot to dupe local rancher John Lufton out of a fortune. When Lufton's firecracker of a daughter, Amy, gets involved, Garry must choose between his old loyalties and what he knows to be right.

    Go West
    TMDB3.3

    Go West

    1940 · 1h 20m

    country: United States

    A con man heading west to search for gold teams up with a pair of scheming brothers along the way. The trio soon find themselves in the middle of a feud between two rival families and two underhanded land developers.

    The Westerner
    TMDB3.5

    The Westerner

    1940 · 1h 40m

    country: United States

    Drifter Cole Harden is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean, but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away.

    Lust for Gold
    TMDB3.0

    Lust for Gold

    1949 · 1h 30m

    country: United States

    A man determined to track down the fabled Arizona gold mine known as The Lost Dutchman has an affair with a married treasure hunter, whose pursuit of the mine has lead her to double-cross her husband.

    Texas
    TMDB3.4

    Texas

    1941 · 1h 33m

    country: United States

    Two Virginians are heading for a new life in Texas when they witness a stagecoach being held up. They decide to rob the robbers and make off with the loot. To escape a posse, they split up and don't see each other again for a long time. When they do meet up again, they find themselves on different sides of the law. This leads to the increasing estrangement of the two men, who once thought of themselves as brothers.

    Santa Fe Trail
    TMDB2.9

    Santa Fe Trail

    1940 · 1h 50m

    country: United States

    As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

    The Harvey Girls
    TMDB3.3

    The Harvey Girls

    1946 · 1h 44m

    country: United States

    On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.

    The Spoilers
    TMDB3.1

    The Spoilers

    1942 · 1h 27m

    country: United States

    When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara.

    In Old Oklahoma
    TMDB3.1

    In Old Oklahoma

    1943 · 1h 42m

    country: United States

    Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner compete for oil lease rights on Indian land in Oklahoma, as well as for the favors of schoolteacher Cathy Allen.

    Tap Roots
    TMDB3.4

    Tap Roots

    1948 · 1h 49m

    country: United States

    Set at the beginning of the Civil War, Tap Roots is all about a county in Mississippi which chooses to secede from the state rather than enter the conflict. The county is protected from the Confederacy by an abolitionist and a Native American gentleman. The abolitionist's daughter is courted by a powerful newspaper publisher when her fiance, a confederate officer, elopes with the girl's sister. The daughter at first resists the publisher's attentions, but turns to him for aid when her ex-fiance plans to capture the seceding county on behalf of the South.

    The Yearling
    TMDB3.3

    The Yearling

    1946 · 2h 8m

    country: United States

    Jody convinces his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?

    Honky Tonk
    TMDB3.2

    Honky Tonk

    1941 · 1h 45m

    country: United States

    Fast-talking con-man and grifter Candy Johnson rises to be the corrupt boss of Yellow Creek, but his wife's alcoholic father tries to set things right.

    The Fighting Kentuckian
    TMDB3.0

    The Fighting Kentuckian

    1949 · 1h 40m

    country: United States

    John Breen (John Wayne), a Kentucky militiaman falls in love with French exile Fleurette De Marchand (Vera Ralston). He discovers a plot to steal the land that Fleurette's exiles plan to settle on and aims to foil it.

    The Sea of Grass
    TMDB3.0

    The Sea of Grass

    1947 · 2h 3m

    country: United States

    On America's frontier, a St. Louis woman marries a New Mexico cattleman who is seen as a tyrant by the locals.

    The Desperadoes
    TMDB3.0

    The Desperadoes

    1943 · 1h 27m

    country: United States

    Popular mailcoach driver Uncle Willie is in fact in league with the town's crooked banker. They plan to have the bank robbed after emptying it, and when Willie's choice for this doesn't show in time, he gets some local boys to do it. When his man does turn up he decides to stick around, as he is pals with the sheriff and also takes a shine to Willie's daughter Allison. This gives the bad men several new problems.

    Virginia City
    TMDB3.1

    Virginia City

    1940 · 2h 1m

    country: United States

    Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.

    The Outlaw
    TMDB2.7

    The Outlaw

    1943 · 1h 56m

    country: United States

    Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl Rio's place after Billy is shot.

    Canyon Passage
    TMDB3.4

    Canyon Passage

    1946 · 1h 32m

    country: United States

    In 1850s Oregon, a businessman is torn between his love of two very different women and his loyalty to a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the line.

    Ramrod
    TMDB3.3

    Ramrod

    1947 · 1h 35m

    country: United States

    A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.

    Ride 'Em Cowboy
    TMDB3.0

    Ride 'Em Cowboy

    1941 · 1h 26m

    country: United States

    Two peanut vendors at a rodeo show get in trouble with their boss and hide out on a railroad train heading west. They get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch, despite the fact that neither of them knows anything about cowboys, horses, or anything else.

    Flame of Barbary Coast
    TMDB2.7

    Flame of Barbary Coast

    1945 · 1h 31m

    country: United States

    Duke Fergus falls for Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry in the Barbary Coast in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. He loses money to crooked gambler Boss Tito Morell, goes home, learns to gamble, and returns. After he makes a fortune, he opens his own place with Flaxen as the entertainer; but the 1906 quake destroys his place.

    Belle Starr
    TMDB3.0

    Belle Starr

    1941 · 1h 23m

    country: United States

    After her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain Sam Starr Belle Shirley vows to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his small guerrilla group for a series of raids on banks and railroads, carpetbaggers and enemy troops. Belle's bravado during the attacks earns her a reputation among the locals as well as the love of Starr himself. The pair get married, but their relationship starts to break down when Sam Starr lets a couple of psychotic rebels into the gang, leaving Belle to wonder if he really cares about the Southern cause.

    About 1940s Western Movies

    The 1940s

    1940s cinema is split by the war: propaganda and home-front melodrama, then the darker, more cynical film noir that followed. Italian neorealism emerged from the rubble at the decade's end.

    Western

    The Western built the visual language of American cinema, then spent decades dismantling its own myths. Its influence runs global — the Italian Spaghetti Western and the Japanese samurai film borrowed from it and fed straight back in.

    In this list

    Best reviewed
    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (8.0)
    Often also
    Drama, Romance, Comedy

    Common questions

    What are the best 1940s western movies?
    By popularity across Flickfolio and TMDB, the top picks right now are The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 3 Godfathers, and Red River. The full ranked list of 40 sits above — open any movie for ratings, reviews, and streaming availability.
    How is this list ranked?
    1940s western movies are ordered by overall popularity, which blends how often a title is viewed, searched, and logged. It updates as viewing habits shift, so the list reflects what people are actually watching rather than a fixed critical canon.
    Where can I watch these movies?
    Every movie page lists current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region, alongside community ratings and reviews from Flickfolio members.

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